Mike Richards (Warning in OP)

[Reclamation Project]

I'll sounds like a broken record, but when **** hit the fan at the end of last year, the powerplay was atrocious and numerous posters said it was a coaching problem (myself included to an extent). I forget the game (it was at home), but Stoll drove to the net, crashed it, and scored a goal. Sutter said this post game (I can't find the exact quote) - "When you drive to the net, crash it, create rebounds, and emphasize pressure, good things will happen. We emphasize that. Stoll did that tonight and he was rewarded."

It's not the coaches, it's the players. They aren't getting it done.

Perimeter play is a guaranteed way to waste a man advantage and almost everyone has become complacent doing that. It has shown signs of life, but last night it was atrocious.

 

[damacles1156]

Once again I will say this,

Slava Voynov, 24 years old (peak offensive age) 53 Games with no goals, and falling Corsi/defensive numbers all year.

Makes 4.4 Million to provide above average Defense and Great offense.

Trevor Lewis went 63 games with no goals (two years combined). Slava is ten games away from matching that(in one season with PP time).

Really not concerned with Richards, I am disappointed in his season.

I am concerned with Doughty/Slava.

 

[Reclamation Project]

What about Drew wasting a good two to three seconds EVERY time he gets the puck on his stick. Just throw a wrister on net. It's so irritating.

 

[damacles1156]

What about Drew wasting a good two to three seconds EVERY time he gets the puck on his stick. Just throw a wrister on net. It's so irritating.

The PP will continue to be bad until Drew/Slava figure out their problems of running the point on the PP.

The PP can't run through the halfwall and Kopitar, it's too easy to defend one side of the ice.

 

[KingsFan7824]

Terry Murray and Jamie Kompon.

Exactly. The guy that got fired because he was an offensive dinosaur, and the guy that was allowed to walk away after the team won the Cup because they scored 3 times on a PP that he coached.

I don't think the coaches would say stand on the outside and nobody go to the front of the net. I don't think players would just stand around on just about every PP, and not actually do something, fully aware that they're on a PP. Nothing about the Kings PP makes much sense.

 

[Vino]

It's because he was arguably our best forward during the last postseason, started this year on fire until the entire team tanked in December, and just about every players' stats on the team are down across the board.

Jeff Carter was our best forward during the last postseason, not Richards. And Richards really played very well first three months (almost three monts, it was Dallas-game December 23th when decline started).

 

[King RAZZ]

But you saw what I saw as well, other than the canceled out goal, the Kings were horrendous on the PP. And that's mainly due to the stupidity of Doughty and Voynov, fiddling with the puck and not getting shots through.

Basically Voynov breaking three sticks on shots/passes...

 

[KingKopitar11*]

If he needs the best players to produce results, he's certainly not that great. At Sochi he was afforded more time and space, and the puck was on his stick less. The second part is critical. He should be a shooter, not a decision maker.

I agree. But I feel like the Kings try so hard to make him QB the PP. They always pass to him, and our power play can be so stagnant at times. The players never move. And doughty always likes to use his instincts. Im not trying to defend him a lot. but man when your unit is standing there and not drawing any Pkers to them, you're not gonna have a lot of space on that blue line.

I know he's capable, we all know he is. Just the reason behind it seems weird.

Plus to me, I won't be wasting time to make decisions and over thinking when players are physically skating to the seams and opening themselves up for a chance, instead of standing on the boards to just keep cycling and not getting good oppurtunies. The way our PP is makes him think too much rather than use his instincts. All speculation.

Unlike some people on these boards, I admit I have a real soft spot for doughty, hence I do over look some of his poor play.

 

[HYORI 1963]

I haven't read any part of this thread other than the op, but my money's on Richards getting traded in the off-season.

 

[Whiskeypete]

first fix for the Kings PP, Drew is never the QB and he is never on top of the umbrella or on a point. use him like they have been on his off wing as a shooter.

when they finally accept this and Drew accepts this the PP will improve. just because he is making $7M, doesn't mean he needs to QB the PP.

Drew is not OEL, or Karlsson. at the same time Karlsson and OEL are not Doughty. would i like OEL and Karlsson's offense? sure, but honestly i would take Drew and his far better well rounded game over both of them.

 

[Lead Role in a Cage]

Once again I will say this,

Slava Voynov, 24 years old (peak offensive age) 53 Games with no goals, and falling Corsi/defensive numbers all year.

Makes 4.4 Million to provide above average Defense and Great offense.

Trevor Lewis went 63 games with no goals (two years combined). Slava is ten games away from matching that(in one season with PP time).

Really not concerned with Richards, I am disappointed in his season.

I am concerned with Doughty/Slava.

It is? 24 is the peak offensive age for a defenseman? If anything, high numbers or not, defensemen take quite a while to find their true game. I think there could be concern for his game, sure, but to me he seems to be a gamer. Stepping in as a rookie, playing top-4 minutes while winning the stanley cup I think is a good measure of whether or not a player has something between his ears.

And for all the Doughty critique (not directed at you), he is the anchor of the best defense in the league. He is the best and most valuable player on the team, as far as I'm concerned. His all round game by far champions whatever faults he brings to this subpar LA Kings TEAM powerplay.

 

[Buddy The Elf]

I'm definitely concerned with Voynov (not so much with Doughty) but I think Voynov gets a little more leeway than a guy like Richards. Quite frankly, that is an apples and oranges comparison.

I'll concede that Richards contract is a concern down the road. That being said, I'm not concerned with his play this season from a (traditional) statistical stand point. I do watch the games and his play has been passive and he looks sluggish at times. The bottom line is, the Kings are contending for a Cup right now and Richards IS a bonafide #2 center when he plays like he has the past two games and like he did the first few months of the season. Assuming he plays as well as he has the past two post seasons in the upcoming playoffs, I see no reason but to stay the course.

You know, for so many years people on here were making comments about salary cap implications like "who cares, worry about it later, just do the deal" when referring to free agents etc. Now we're in win now mode and all of a sudden we're concerned with cap constraints in 2, 3, 4 years? Well, right back at ya "who cares, worry about it later". As long as this team looks like a legit contender and there is not a better option available, he should and more than likely will stay on the rosters.

 

[Buddy The Elf]

I added and finished that post. And, we're not, we're just pointing out that his offensive slump is similar to Kopitar's at the beginning of the year when some were screaming to trade him and that he had been ruined. Some of us get sick and tired of hearing it screamed every day that he's slumping, especially when the team is playing well, and it becomes a broken record when we aren't. We know that we all need someone to whip, but seriously... I can point to many other Kings that are having severely off years and bad seasons, but the only one being sensationalized by Kings fans is Richards.

I'd add Muzzin to that list and apparently Voynov was being criticized too but I really didn't see much in the way of that until about a few weeks before the olympics.

Somebody made a comment either in this thread or another but it was very poignant (i just wanted to use that word). All teams in the NHL have weaknesses. The Kings are no different. I think it is a real testament to the way this team has been built that so many players are having off years (statistically) and others are being chastised for their horrible play (Stoll, Richards, Voynov, Muzzin, Greene, Regher, even 5 minutes a night Fraser was taking heat) and some how manage to be what many consider a Cup contender. A lot of the criticism of players on here is warranted to an extent but it often takes on a life of its own. Everyone seems to champion the one player they despise as the weak link in the team but a lot of that is just emotion spilling over.

I think every single defenseman on the Kings has been criticized for their defensive play this year and the team is leading the league in GA. Jon Quick is great and so are the forwards backcheckingl but holy hopping horse ****, what are you guys smoking? How can we criticize the team and the defensive corps when they are the best in the friggin league? It is unbelievable to me and part of the reason I take everyone's opinion on here with a grain of salt. Some of the opinions on here are just flat out ridiculous. And that is just my opinion...

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I'd say the best comparison of a player that Mike Richards was like who slowly started to decline over the years due to the nature of his play is Michael Peca.

They were both recognized as two-way players, posting about 40-60 points rather consistently throughout their careers, and stepping up their performance in the post season.

It wasn't long ago where we saw guys like Stoll and Handzus take that #2 slot and while they performed admirably, they're not Mike Richards. We've seen in the past two games that he's very capable of setting his linemates up and the fourth line has suddenly becoming a scoring threat now that Richards is on there. I guess it would also be unfair to really call them a fourth line considering how they've been outplaying most of the other lines on the roster of late.

Numbers are down all across the league, but especially on the Kings. Kopitar is producing at lower pace than we're used to from him. Williams, Carter, Brown, Doughty, Voynov, Stoll, all are experiencing some lows in their points per game average. The Kings have only two players on the roster with over 20 goals. That's not going to help the numbers of a player who is known to pass first.

 

[HYORI 1963]

I think Richards just needs to dedicate himself to a good off-season workout much like Carter, instead of going hunting, like he's known to do.

To me, a players' off-season workout is the key to their up coming season's success. If I'm a player, I'm working my tail off in the off-season.

 

[Fishhead]

Meh, I think this team is sandbagging. It's no coincidence that they cranked it up when games start to get important. Richards hasn't been inspired all year. All that's going to matter is how he does in the playoffs.

MR isn't going to be bought out or traded for gods sake. This team won the cup then went to the WCF in back to back years, and Mike was a big part of that.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

27 points in 35 playoff games since he became a King. Can't overlook those numbers.

To put things in perspective, Kopitar has 29 points in 38 games over the past two playoff years, and Carter has 26 points in 38 playoff games with the Kings.

 

[Buddy The Elf]

As long as we're criticizing, I'd also like to see him start being a little more decisive with the puck on the rush. He constantly is looking for a play, lets the other team's defenders catch up with him and he inevitably turns it over, flubs it making a move to buy some more time or forces a bad pass. There have been countless times this season where he has had an opportunity to make a play and he gets too fancy and his feet just aren't quick enough to compensate. And yeah, maybe some conditioning will help that a bit too. If there is one thing on the Kings that makes me want to throw the friggin remote is when Richards turns the puck over on a rush.

That goal he scored in Winnipeg is an example of what he should always do. He doesn't necessarily need to take the shot every time. Just make a decision, make it fast and execute.

Oh and I bet Stoll is shoveled out of LA before Richards. Even with Stoll gone, you can roll Kopitar, Carter and Richards down the middle.

 

[etherialone]

I'd say the best comparison of a player that Mike Richards was like who slowly started to decline over the years due to the nature of his play is Michael Peca.

They were both recognized as two-way players, posting about 40-60 points rather consistently throughout their careers, and stepping up their performance in the post season.

It wasn't long ago where we saw guys like Stoll and Handzus take that #2 slot and while they performed admirably, they're not Mike Richards. We've seen in the past two games that he's very capable of setting his linemates up and the fourth line has suddenly becoming a scoring threat now that Richards is on there. I guess it would also be unfair to really call them a fourth line considering how they've been outplaying most of the other lines on the roster of late.

Numbers are down all across the league, but especially on the Kings. Kopitar is producing at lower pace than we're used to from him. Williams, Carter, Brown, Doughty, Voynov, Stoll, all are experiencing some lows in their points per game average. The Kings have only two players on the roster with over 20 goals. That's not going to help the numbers of a player who is known to pass first.

Interesting post and I agree with you.

I think some of our scoring lows also is due to the fact that DS simply cannot leave a line together long enough for it to build any consistency if his life depended on it. Every time we go on a winning streak he starts tweaking the lines and things go south. I am not blaming all of our troubles on that but I think that it is something that should be added to the conversation even if it is only one of the contributing factors and not a key problem.

 

[Muzzinga]

Once again I will say this,

Slava Voynov, 24 years old (peak offensive age) 53 Games with no goals, and falling Corsi/defensive numbers all year.

Makes 4.4 Million to provide above average Defense and Great offense..

He has 1 of the worst possession dmen since the cap era on his line. It makes life tough

 

[KingsFan7824]

He has 1 of the worst possession dmen since the cap era on his line. It makes life tough

Voynov has been shaky enough by himself that Regehr doesn't need to be blamed.

 

[Muzzinga]

shakiness is magnified when as a pairing they can't get the puck out of their zone

A great example of that is Martinez. Playing with Mitchell he is thriving, even playing on his off side, just because as a pairing they are actually capable of moving the puck up the ice.

Pair Voynov with Muzzin/Martinez/Mitchell and he would quickly find his feet again and start scoring at a regular pace

 

[DryIslandBartender]

I haven't read any part of this thread other than the op, but my money's on Richards getting traded in the off-season.

My bet is Stoll goes.

Richards would be expensive to replace to be honest and he's still young enough with a decent cap hit. Lombardi still holds him in high regard with his leadership and playoff success.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

GMs are more patient than fans. They'll give anyone time to right their ship if there's a reason for it, and there may be reasons we are not privy to. I think even without a significant reason guys held in high regard get a chance to play out the year and play thru it to see what's on the other side. Brown seems to be coming out of his funk as does Richards and they are both testaments of this. I get really worried if he stinks in the playoffs and starts next year the same way. In the meantime, while there are some things that need to be corrected (mostly dealing with skating/defense), we're gonna have to bear it, too.

 

[HYORI 1963]

My bet is Stoll goes.

Richards would be expensive to replace to be honest and he's still young enough with a decent cap hit. Lombardi still holds him in high regard with his leadership and playoff success.

I don't know if I agree with that. Stoll could possibly re-sign for $2M whereas Richards is in contract for 5.75M AND Stoll has better chemistry with Brownie as well as Williams, both of who may play on the 3rd lines next year. If Richards sticks around, I think it has more to do with Lombardi not being able to trade Richards than wanting to keep him as our 3C or 4C.

Having said that, I don't mind Richards sticking with the team. I'm definitely not a Richards hater. I just didn't go ga-ga over his hot start like so many of you guys.